(a) Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to field of fishing rod mounted fishing equipment, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an apparatus for attaching a chemical illumination device to the tip area of a fishing rod.
(b) Discussion of Prior Art
The advantages of night fishing have long been recognized since many species of fish feed well into the night or early in the morning before the sun rises. The absence of light during night fishing introduces problems which are not experienced during daylight fishing. Unfortunately, most popular fishing equipment is designed for fishing in daylight and does not address the problems encountered by people who fish at night.
One of the most significant problems has to do with the detection of a bite or a nibble on the bait. The problem arises due to the fact that most commercially available fishing poles do not include devices that facilitate the observation of the fishing rod tip at night. An examination of the known prior art reveals that there have been several attempts at solving the problems associated with detecting a bite or nibble while fishing at night. Most known approaches, however, are directed at attaching or incorporating some sort of battery powered light or light emitting diode (LED) at the tip of the pole. This approach was taken in U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. D316,302, D299,377, as well as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,697,375, 4,479,321, and 4,117,618. This approach was also taken in the inventions disclosed in British patents 2,052,231 to Pavey and 1,118,237 to Ilsen, and in German patent number 2,836,769 to Lorenz.
There are many problems associated with devices that rely on electrical devices for illumination of the fishing rod or rod tip. Perhaps the most glaring problem is that electrical devices are vulnerable to short circuiting in damp environments, such as the areas in which fishing poles are used. Also, these devices require the use of wiring and circuitry to operate the light bulb or LED. This wiring has to be incorporated into the body of the fishing rod, which results in a device that is seriously disadvantaged by the fact that these imbedded wires and components are nearly impossible to maintain without having to destroy the fishing rod.
Also, many of the known devices simply mount a battery powered light on to the tip area of the fishing rod. This approach solves many of the maintainability problems associated with fishing poles that incorporate wiring along the length of the rod, but greatly reduce the sensitivity of the fishing rod due to the mass of the lighting device attached to the tip of the fishing rod.
The problems associated with the sensitivity of the fishing pole are important since fish frequently simply take the bait and hold the bait in their mouths to feel or taste it before actually taking or swallowing the bait. To hook a fish that is simply mouthing the bait, the fisherman must become aware of the fact that the fish is mouthing the bait and then jerk the fishing rod to get the fishing hook to sink into the fish's mouth. If the fisherman jerks the fishing rod at the wrong instant, the jerking motion may cause the bait to fall off the hook or the sudden motion may frighten an indecisive fish that had been spying the bait. If the fisherman does not notice that a fish is playing with the bait, and he does not jerk the rod at all, then the fisherman gives the fish the opportunity to steal the bait without getting hooked.
Thus, the fisherman must pay close attention to the tip of the rod to determine whether a fish is mouthing or playing with the bait, so that he may jerk the rod at the most opportune instant. It is a difficult task to determine the right instant to jerk on the rod, however. This is due to the fact that the water being fished is likely to impart some motion to the fishing line and fishing rod tip, and the fisherman must be able to distinguish between the subtle motion imparted by the water and the subtle motion induced by a fish who is mouthing the bait.
Thus it can be appreciated that devices which attach bulky battery operated lighting devices on to the tip of the fishing rod are likely to severely impair the fisherman's ability to detect subtle nibbling or mouthing of the bait. This problem is not solved by devices which have motion actuated switches that cause the light to flicker whenever a fish begins to tug on the line. This is because many fish will impart such subtle motion on the line that this motion will be indistinguishable to the mechanical triggering mechanism from motion imparted by the wind or water. It takes the observation of the experienced fisherman to be able to distinguish the regular motion imparted by the water from the tugging motion imparted by the fish.
Thus there remains a need for a system for assisting the fisherman, who is fishing at night, in determining when a fish is nibbling or mouthing the bait. There remains a need for such a device which does not weigh the tip of the rod to the point of reducing the sensitivity of the rod and preventing the fisherman from observing the characteristic tugging motion imparted by a nibbling fish.
There remains a need for a device that can be used to allow night fishermen to observe the motion of the tip of their fishing rods, and which can be maintained without the need of wiring or batteries.
There remains a need lightweight illumination device attachment for the tip of a fishing pole so that the weight of the device does not dampen the motion of the tip of the fishing rod.
There remains a need for a low maintenance device for illuminating the tip of a fishing pole in a manner that is not susceptible to failure due to its immersion in water.